Give your AP team more time now summer’s here

We all know the difference a little extra time can make, especially at work. Those precious few minutes can be a chance to answer emails, grab lunch or focus on the things that will save even more time in future. But rather than wait for that ‘free’ moment to arrive, there’s a quicker, faster way to gain more time at work. No, we’re not talking time machines, rather automating accounts payable processes to help you save time and money and enjoy more free time now summer’s almost here.

Six benefits of AP automation

1. Save time on data entry
Labour-intensive manual data entry results in high processing costs. Invoice management solutions that use optical character recognition (OCR) to read and upload invoices within seconds dramatically increase the number of invoices processed per FTE. Read more about the benefits of OCR.

2. Automate invoice matching
AP automation matches invoices to orders and/or receipts with a high level of accuracy, often reducing manual intervention by at least 60%. Combined with solutions such as OCR, automated invoice matching can supercharge your accounts payable department by removing the need for any human input on many invoices.

3. Invoice process without paper
More and more suppliers send electronic invoices, often by email. By removing the need to print or scan these invoices, AP automation dramatically reduces invoice processing times. Research from IBM suggests businesses can enjoy cost savings of up to 90% just by switching to receiving electronic invoices. Imagine the time and money saved.

4. Catch duplicate invoices
Paying invoices twice or more can be costly and reduce profits. According to the Institute of Internal Auditors, one in 1000 payments could be a duplicate, but mistakes often only show if the supplier returns payment. An effective invoice management solution will specifically identify duplicate invoices before they’re paid so you don’t pay for the same thing twice.

5. Gain enhanced visibility
Data that’s viewable on screen on demand helps management make faster, better informed decisions. It also eliminates errors such as entry mistakes and duplicate payment and helps reveal fraud. Automation also greatly improves the data’s accuracy, strengthening its integrity for when the auditors arrive.

6. Ensure timely payments
Prompt payment fosters the best client-supplier relationships and avoids late payment interest charges. It can also help customers negotiate deals that support business opportunity and growth. AP automation makes prompt paying easy and reduces the time spent answering supplier queries.